Ring - Spotlight Cam, Battery (newest model), Wide-Angle Retinal 2K Video, 6x Enhanced Zoom, Motion-Activated Spotlights - White

What’s in the box: • Spotlight Cam • Mounting bracket • Mounting hardware • Charge cable • Protected by Ring Sticker Setup: There is a QR code to download the app or if you already have the app, to get the install process started. First you need to take the battery pack out and charge it. You will also need to take the battery pack out to get the contact shield off. To do that, press the metal tab toward the battery and it will slip out of the case. Please note the charge port on the battery pack is a mini USB and not USB-C. If you use the included charge cable, you’re OK. Another alternative is to use the port on the back side of the camera case. Pull the little plastic plug out and you will see an externally accessible USB-C charging port. Yeah! Pair this with a small solar panel and you have the best of both worlds. Since I already had a Ring subscription that supports multiple devices, setup was easy. I just followed the prompts. The app already knew the password to my IOT network from previous installs. I mounted the camera over my garage to get a good view of my front yard. It works great. The wide viewing angle covers what previously took two cameras to capture. I can’t really speak to battery life since I hooked this up to a small solar panel. I need a 12 foot ladder to access the camera and just didn’t want to deal with that in the middle of the winter to retrieve and charge the battery. (Note this camera comes with one battery pack, but is built to accommodate two if you desire longer battery life.) The video is sharp and clear. Even though the camera is far from my router, the signal has been steady. Pros: • It’s battery operated so no wiring is needed and it will work with a solar panel. • It can be placed pretty much anywhere that it gets a WiFi signal. • It can be mounted multiple ways. • The video is sharp and clear • It works well in low light • Spotlight and siren • Two way voice • It works with Alexa Cons: • You are pretty much out of luck setting it up if the app doesn’t work. There are essentially no instructions outside of the process built into the app. • To get the most out of the camera you need a subscription. However, if you already have multiple Ring devices, you can just add this one without additional costs. Summary: It’s a nice camera, with lots of features. If you need a camera that can be placed just about anywhere, check this one out.

I have a handful of Ring devices around the house but this is my first outdoor security camera and I was glad to see it's offered in 2K resolution. The main reason I have stayed in the Ring ecosystem is the app. Having one place to pull up all of my cameras is convenient, but I also like the feature set including the Neighbors section. This is the 2K model with the wide angle lens and motion activated spotlights running on a rechargeable battery. When running cameras outdoors I prefer not to have to plug-in so the battery power is the option I want. - Unboxing - Opening it up, everything you need to get going is in the box. You get the camera itself, the mount, one rechargeable battery pack, the mounting hardware, a charging cable, the setup guide, a security sticker for the yard, and the paperwork. It's simple packaging and gives you only what you need to get started. The battery is in the camera. - Design & Build - It's a clean white and black housing with two LED spotlights at 550 lumens. It feels solid in my hands and well sealed for rain and water. The battery is inside the unit. It unlocks and twists on the bottom to open. You remove a light cardboard insert and you actually eject the battery compartment up to remove the battery and charge. There's an extra slot to store another battery so you can actually run 2 batteries at once, great idea. - Living with it - This is where the Ring camera really stands out. I can open the Ring app and see this camera lined up next to all my other Ring devices in one view, and jumping between them is quick and easy. That single view convenience is a big part of why I keep everything in one ecosystem. You will want a paid subscription to get the full set of features and to save your recordings. I run the unlimited device plan, which lets me put as many devices on it as I want with cloud storage, so adding this camera didn't change anything about how I'm already set up. One thing I do wish it had is an SD card slot for local storage. It doesn't, so everything lives in the cloud. Installation was about as easy as it gets. I put it up on my back porch and drilled the mount right into the overhang, and it installed easily. I just dialed in the angle and then slid it onto the mount. - Performance - Resolution is good. The 2K picture is a clear step up and details look sharp in the app, but one thing I noticed is the sharpness depends on how much area you're asking it to cover and how strong your Wi-Fi is. The smaller the space and it's crisp. If you ask it to cover a wide, open area and it can look a little softer. A lot of that comes back to your wifi connection too, and what's convenient is that the Ring app actually shows you your signal strength, so you're not guessing. I started out on my 2.4 GHz network, which is busy with everything else in the house, and moving it over to my 5 GHz network made a difference. Having the dual-band option to do that is genuinely useful, and I'd tell anyone with a crowded 2.4 GHz network to try the 5 GHz side or vice versa. The spotlights are nice and bright. When they kick on they light up the porch well, which is exactly what I wanted out of a spotlight cam. The camera is responsive too. It reacts quickly and does what I ask without lag when I pull it up. - Battery life - Based on the battery performance I'm getting, it looks like I'll get about 2 weeks. A lot of this depends on the frequency of the notifications and the spotlights, this can all be tuned in from the app too. If you add a second battery you can effectively double this. - Pros/Cons - *Pros* * 2K video is sharp * Dual band WiFi * Motion activated spotlights are bright * Ring App is polished and feature rich * Room for a second battery pack * Battery power means no wiring * Responsive when I access it through the app *Suggestions/Needs Improvement* * No SD card slot * Subscription required to access all features * Sharpness drops depending on WiFi signal I picked up this one because of the quality of the hardware and the app, and it's in 2K resolution. Setup was quick, spotlights are bright, and the battery makes it convenient. Surprisingly, the battery is lasting about 2 weeks between charges. The video quality will depend on your Wi-Fi connection but adding dual-band support helps with that. There's a weatherproof USB-C input on the back you can use. I would recommend this to anyone. It's a creative design.

This newest model Ring Spotlight Cam (battery) is a fantastic upgrade to the previous Ring camera I had out front of my house, so much so, I am planning to replace the other Ring cameras around my property with these new versions! First off, mounting. Unfortunately, if you have previous Ring cameras mounted, the mounting pattern of the base for the camera is not the same as previous models, so you will have to drill more/new holes when mounting. Fortunately the base size is about the same, so you are able to cover up your previous holes with the base. Once mounted (I used my previous solar panel to power/charge this battery camera - I did need to add my own adapter from the proprietary Ring power adapter to a USB-C connector, as Ring has switched up the power connection) I was able to hang the camera in the same position that I had my previous camera in. The first thing I noticed was how much wider of an angle the view was, I was able to see all the way across the street and see much further up and down the street than was ever possible with the previous camera. This itself is superb, but the quality of that video image was so much better as well! With the ability to zoom in 6x, you are able to get much clearer detail and see more of the area that you need to monitor. The spotlights are a nice added touch, they light up well, and you can control them independently from within the Ring app, so you can turn them on and off as you so choose. Having the camera hooked up to a Ring Solar Panel gives peace of mind that you don't have to constantly worry about battery life. Having used Ring products for a long time now, the app is very intuitive and the alerts and notifications you receive are very important. You can differentiate between vehicles, people and other motion sources. You can also create motion zones, so for example, in my images, I have put a boundary at the edge of my property, so I don't get alerts for every car that goes down my street, but if there is someone on the sidewalk or in my driveway, I get alerted. Overall, really happy with this upgrade to my external security, the quality of the images is worth it alone, but the spotlight feature I never had before illuminates the way, and the AI generated notifications of what is happening outside are a really nice touch as well. This camera is slightly larger than previous models, but thankfully it still fit where I had my previous one installed.

The Ring Spotlight Cam Battery is part of Ring’s latest Retinal 2k lineup featuring enhancing image quality, night vision, advanced motion detection with zone management, two-way audio, and more. As a Ring user for the past 4 years and testing several of their models, this Spotlight 2k camera has some benefits in terms of flexibility and is an improvement from older cameras with 1080p resolution, however, leaves a little to be desired. IN THE BOX: - Battery Spotlight Cam (Two Battery Slots, One Battery Included) - USB-C Power Adapter - Camera Mount + Hardware - Sticker - User Manual SETUP: Ring cameras are extremely easy to set up, especially if you’re a current Ring user. This camera comes with a 30 day trial of Ring Protect, one of their paid plans with additional benefits such as up to 180 Days of Video Event History, unlimited devices at one location, person, package, and vehicle notifications, extended warranties, and more. After scanning the QR code on the camera within the Ring app, it prompted for a software update to be performed which only took about 1 minute. BUILD QUALITY: The Battery Spotlight Cam is very similar in construction to their products from the last several years. It is larger in physical size than the wired version of their cameras due to the LED lights that flank the camera on either side as well as the dual battery slots for extra runtime. It has no mounting location on the button or top of the camera but there are two rear mounting locations. This allows for the camera to be hung from the side of a house, under an eve, or other similar locations. It is also equipped with a USB-C port for plug-in power if you have an outlet nearby. FEATURES/VIDEO QUALITY: With the new Retinal 2K lineup, Ring promises enhanced video quality, enhanced zoom capability up to 6x, and generally better performance. Most of their camera lineup can be equipped with either Battery, Plug-In/Wired, and POE options for different setups and use cases. The battery versions typically have slightly reduced performance (motion detection) in my experience due to energy saving measures vs their wired counterparts. The image quality of this 2k camera is acceptable but nowhere near their 4K lineup. This would be the new minimum resolution that I would recommend to anyone looking for a wireless security system. This resolution allows for capturing more details such as vehicle make/models (but likely not license plates) or people vs older 1080p cameras. The spotlight is rated at 550 Lumens of output at 3000k color temperature which is enough output for very small patios or similar areas but nowhere near enough light for backyards or larger areas. The throw of the light is roughly 12-15 feet in front of the camera, at most. One feature I really enjoy is the Lutron + Ring integration. This allows for the Ring cameras to activate Lutron smart switches (aka lights) whenever motion is detected by the cameras. If you have this system, I would recommend a Ring camera without the Spotlight and utilize larger wall lights or sconces on your house rather than lesser output Ring camera lights. If you don’t have a Lutron system, the Ring Spotlight cameras do add some flexibility for additional lighting or motion lighting. APP: After using the Ring app for over 4 years, I find it really great in some areas and really poor in others. I find the camera previews and accessory light controls very easy to access. The history and timelines for devices is pretty straightforward as well. When it comes to the different modes, scheduling devices, and things like this, it can be a little confusing. It is important to note that if you don’t want law enforcement being able to access your camera footage during investigations or other relevant searches that you must opt out of this function. This is also true for the lost pet feature recently introduced. Likes: - Dual Battery Slot - Lutron + Ring Integration - Design/Mounting Flexibility - Ring App Customization Dislikes: - Older Micro USB Battery Included - Motion Detection Consistency - LED Light Output OVERALL: The Ring Battery Spotlight Camera 2k is an acceptable camera for those that need flexibility in placement (battery) and want some sort of lighting around a door, patio, or garage but the light output is very limited. The motion detection was hit or miss with my testing vs wired/plug in models even with the sensitivity all the way up. If you’re using Ring hardware from several years ago AND are able to plug in the devices, I would recommend opting for the 4K lineup for the best performance and video quality. The 2k lineup offers a good entry point into the Ring ecosystem with competitive image quality and feature set.

OK, in my house, I have a mixture of Ring camera's and Google Nest cameras. Being a part of this program, I have a, you lot of experience testing many brands of camera's, and in my experience, you truly do get what you pay for. The premium is worth it with the Ring. My experience with battery camera's is mixed. With some battery camera's, maintaining the battery can feel like a part-time job. The cool feature with these camera's is two-fold: first, the batteries are big, and hold more charge than most. Second, these camera's have two battery slots. So when one goes low, the camera automatically switches to the other battery. Then you can replace the low battery with a previously charged one. Twice the life, half the time managing batteries. Great design. The mounting options for these cameras are great. You can put them almost anywhere, inside or out, basement, garage, pool, pool house, greenhouse... Pretty much anywhere. If you don't have the Ring app already, you'll need to get it and get an account. If you do have one, adding the unit is simple. The picture is great. The light is, well... It's bright enough. The app offers tons of control, is intuitive, and offers great options. End of the day, I would reccomend to a friend.